I have been promising (and I know you all have just been waiting in deep anticipation) a treatise on quick pickles – quickles I call them. Some factoids: Cucumbers have been around forever and go back as far as Mesopotamia 2030 BC. Quickles are not marinated vegetables. They are brined or salted the same as long process (slowckles) are. The word pickle comes from the Dutch pekel which means salt or brine.

Quickles are a great way to use up some excess summer veggies, brighten up winter veggies, add a quick bit of zing to a dull meal, be a unique appetizer, or in some cases, add an authentic bit to an ethnic meal. Seasonings and vegetables themselves can give a local or ethnic flair. Add daikon to cucumbers and onion. Or add some curry to cucumber, onion, celery, red radish. Crushed mustard seed, turmeric, celery seed, and sugar make the ubiquitous onion and cucumber mixture quick bread and butter pickles (recipe in a previous Keep It Simple Saturday) post.

Quickles give much satisfaction with little effort. They are great with sandwiches, sides for meat, rice….on their own.

Equipment is as simple or exotic as you choose: a colander, plate, weight or a specialized pickle press. I bought a dandy one at a local Japanese food store for $4.99. Ingredients are the same way: salt (uniodized or sea salt), spices, herbs, veggies. The process may take a few hours but you don’t have to babysit and can do other things. Once made, they will last for several weeks in the refrigerator. I do hope you all will experiment with quickles. They’ve been a part of my life since I was born. On a hot summer day, cucumber quickles from the fridge cooled and refreshed a hot little girl. Other kids could have a Koolaid freezer pop – I wanted quickles!! They are a regular feature now in my bento.

One Method: The above is my go to veggies for quickles. Add or subtract. It’s up to you to determine how many you want to make. I usually use a standard size cuke, a small or medium onion, a rib of celery, a carrot, several red radishes, about ½ c. sliced daikon, about ½ cup shredded cabbage. In a colander, toss well with several tablespoons of uniodized salt. Place sauce or plate, depending on size of colander and add weight to the plate. A half gallon empty clean milk jug or gallon jug of water works well. Place in sink or on another plate to catch liquid from vegetables. Vegetables will end up being limp but still crispy due to this process. Use a mandolin or sharp knife to thinly slice vegetables. Add seasonings of choice. ALWAYS use non-reactive pots, pans, bowls for vinegar/acid based foods.

Obviously, the vinegar and seasonings will determine the “flavor” of the pickle. I like a Japanese quickle to use with everything.

Recipe – Japanese Sunomono (sweet)

english cucumber

½ small onion

1 cup water

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 tbsp kosher salt

2 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp minced ginger

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients except the cucumber. Stir well to dissolve the sugar. Wash the cucumber and slice it very thin using a mandoline. Add it to the bowl of liquid, give it a good stir, and then take care to submerge all the cucumber slices. Refrigerate for at least half an hour (but no more than a couple hours) before eating. Drain before serving. Garnish with toasted seaweed and sesame seeds. To add another layer of flavor to this simple pickle, add about ¼ – ½ tsp. dashi soup granules and/or seeded and slivered chili pepper (not much for this amount of cucumber).Japanese Sour Pickles
1/2 cucumber
1/6 carrots
7 oz. water
1 1/3 tsp. soy sauce
1/4 oz. (dried bonito)
5 oz. daikon radish
2 2/3 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
Sliced ginger
Combine vinegar, water, salt, sugar and soy sauce. Add bonito and sliced ginger and stir slowly until sugar is dissolved. Cut cucumber, daikon and carrot into strips. Put vegetables in a jar and pour the mixture over them. Let sit in refrigerator for a couple of days for flavors to blend. Keeps about 10 days.

Peel the carrots and thinly slice them about 2 inches long (should be about two cups). Wrap the sliced carrots in a dry towel, ensuring the carrots don’t have any excess water. Mix all the ingredients together with the carrots and put in a glass jar. Keep the jar in the sun for a day. Pickle is ready the next day. Pickle can be refrigerated for about two weeks.

Yowser…it’s cold here!!! Nights in the teens, days in the 20’s. You folks in parts of Canada and Alaska can laugh all you like, but it is cold for us.

So…something warm and yummy for Dinner – I’m going again with the Keep It Simple Saturday. For dinner (and leftovers) – a slow cooker Swiss style round steak. It’s on sale for $3.99 pound at a local chain. I like to pair the Swiss steak with yellow rice and a tossed salad. You can add garlic, oregano, and thyme, and give it an Italian flair and serve with pasta. Dessert for the evening is going to be toasted, sliced pound cake (purchased – did I mention today was KISSaturday?) and topped with ice cream or sherbet of your choice.

Breakfast is cheese toast with a side of fresh fruit. Lunch is chunky tuna salad stuffed into pita pockets and cut up veggies on the side. I keep cut up veggies on hand all the time for my bento and my husband’s lunch or for snacks. Same with fruit. I buy fresh strawberries on the cheap or, use bananas cut up with pineapple chunks. Apples, oranges, and tangerines are always on hand. We are big on getting our five servings of fruit and veggies every day. You can use canned fruit in juice for ease and frugality. Sometimes I open a can of chunky mixed fruit in their juice and add sliced banana. But I am a fresh girl….in more ways than one!!!

I am going to fix the tuna salad first so the flavors can blend and then throw the round steak together in the slow cooker. When this gets to going, your house is going to smell sooooo good! You can watch basketball games on the tube, run errands, have that rare lunch with a friend, sneak in a nap or read…..be all kinds of busy while this cooks without you having to worry.

Now remember, this is KISSAturday – not haute cuisine-impress your foodie friends-make something exotic Saturday. Ingredients are simple, easy to find, based on frugalness, and tried and true combos for a savory comfort factor. We’ll get into fancy-schmancy another time. Enjoy your Saturday. Don’t make yourself crazy. And take some time to take a walk and enjoy winter beauty…it has its own style and is as seductive as spring, if you learn to appreciate it.

Cheese Toast– per serving
(I shouldn’t have to tell you this but……)
2 slices of bread – your choice
Schmear of low fat margarine or be bad and use butter
Cheese of your choice – enough to cover two slices of bread

Schmear butter on bread and top with cheese. Please cheese side up in a toaster over or under the broiler until it is melted and bubbly.

Chunky Tuna Salad
2 standard cans of chunk white tuna in water, drained
¼ c. chopped onion
¼ c. chopped green or red pepper
¼ c. chopped celery
Dash of hot sauce
Dash of lemon juice
Enough mayo to bind ingredients. Mix all well. Some curry powder is good added to this as a change from standard mixes. Stuff in pita pockets, spread on bread slices, or eat as I do on lettuce.

SWISS STEAK
1.5 – 2 Lbs beef round steak, cut into serving size pieces: 6 – 8
2 cans whole or diced tomatoes, smushed
1 envelope onion soup mix (I use ½ envelope and use a store brand)
1 medium onion sliced
1 small green pepper, sliced
Salt and pepper
Few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
Sprinkle steaks with salt and pepper. Put some of the tomatoes and veggies in bottom of cooker and top with steak pieces. Top with remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve with rice, noodles, or mashed taters. If you do the Italian seasoning, serve with pasta.